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Four years ago, at the funeral of Ebony magazine founder John H. Johnson, then-Sen. Barack Obama remembered the man who almost single-handedly built the economic foundation for black-audience periodicals.
Through his magazines, Obama told the more than 2,000 mourners, “he shared countless news, large and small, that had been ignored for so long.”
Tavis Smiley also spoke about the legendary Johnson. “It never occurred to me to sell,” Smiley recalled Johnson saying to him. And although the founder had died, Smiley rejoiced that Johnson Publishing Co. was “still No. 1, and still 100 percent black-owned.”
It may not be for much longer. Newsweek reported recently that John Johnson’s daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, the chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing, is seeking a buyer, investor or buyout firm to take over Ebony. (Newsweek said it's unclear whether the company's other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.) Now it falls to publishers, academics and journalists to debate what went wrong with the company, which was founded in 1945, and what the future holds. (To add to publishing industry woes, it was announced last week that the print version of West Coast-based music publication URB magazine was going on hiatus.)
Many industry watchers say they are disappointed with the lack of innovation at the company, failure to invest more in Ebonyjet.com, and in general, the absence of strong and nimble leadership needed to keep pace with the 21st century.
Ebony is “a brand that’s lost its value and cachet,” says Charles Whitaker, a former Ebony editor and now a professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism who led a 2007 study of the magazine. “No one was sure what the content of Ebony is and what it stood for,” Whitaker says. “And the ‘no one’ included advertisers. People who got it just felt a sense of loyalty.”
Operations at Johnson Publishing, like at so many mainstream and niche publishing companies, have been in a tumultuous state over the past few years. Nearly a year after her father died, Rice hired an editorial director, Bryan Monroe, a former executive at the now-defunct Knight Ridder newspaper chain.
Monroe hired several journalists away from the mainstream media, and, in the process alienated some existing employees, some of whom took buyouts. Under Monroe, Ebony published a lavish issue on the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, took a stand against the N-word and featured eight different covers for its August 2008 issue: “The 25 Coolest Brothers of All Time.” Partly because of Rice’s ties to fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama, Ebony scored the first postelection interview with the president-elect, though it was not published until Obama had granted other interviews.
Despite these attempts toward a new relevance, one staffer who prefers to remain anonymous says, “Ebony was still seen as a magazine for your grandparents or parents.” And rising expenditures for the new talent, travel and the mostly staff-photographed Ebony covers apparently were not matched by sufficient increases in newsstand sales and advertising revenue. Monroe resigned in April.
Amid the turmoil, Rice remained stalwart. “I am deeply committed to maintaining our presence and long-standing legacy in the African-American community,” she said in a statement. “Reshaping our organizational design will help ensure that we continue to evolve with the ever-changing media landscape.”
Other black publishers empathize with Ebony’s struggle. “It’s hard to do your best work when your back is against the wall,” says Brett Wright, chief creative officer of Uptown Media Group. In August, InterMedia Partners, in partnership with its portfolio company Uptown Media Group, along with Blackrock Digital, purchased the assets of Vibe and Vibe.com. Wright, 40, has also worked at Essence and The Source. “The last year for all of us—Uptown, Vibe, Ebony—has been a huge, huge challenge. I haven’t seen a marketplace like this ever, with the advertising, [and] the credit markets. We’re all challenged, and people were just operating out of fear.”
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i have not had the desire to purchase or even look at Ebony, Oprah, or Jet or as a matter of fact any formerly African owned mag in yrs..because i get sick and tired of people like Johnson living large and forgetting the people who helped him back in the day..
I was once a subcriber with pride could not wait to get my copy monthly.
This all took on another face in the 90's when Johnson decided to put white women in the mix..Upholding thier positions and placing African amerikkkns on the back burner..i don't care about sales its about ethics..and i do not want to look at no flat assed fake titty white woman in a black magazine..This means that you are paying her(them) and they are not putting anything into our communities....
Ebony also never evolved they tried to stay with the incrowd, but did not have the resources? they claim..Bull shit..They got hundreds from me over the yrs..as did Jet..
My bad!
Even after tey did this i kept my sub..i was begged to come back in 2003 and i did only to see more white women. or women who could pass..neglecting sisters who looked like me..natural beauties..with nappy hair?..Then to my disgust..This...>
Good riddance..
http://thenonlatinaafricanfromcuba.blogspot.com/
From Newsweek:
For 50 years, the Ebony Fashion Fair has been a glamorous social event in dozens of U.S. communities. The traveling fashion show has raised $55 million in college scholarships for African-American students. But this year the company behind the show, Johnson Publishing which publishes Ebony, pulled the plug on the event, citing lack of corporate sponsorship due to the recession. “This is devastating to us,” Ann Lee, publicity chairwoman for the Charmettes, a civic group that staged the event in Broward County, Fla., told The Miami Herald.
RELATED: Vibe Magazine Folds
It’s been a year of excruciating decisions for publishing companies—layoffs, pullbacks, closures. Now it appears Johnson Publishing’s chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, has reached what must have been an agonizing decision: Johnson Publishing is seeking a buyer or investor for its flagship publication, Ebony, in an effort aimed at securing the survival of the nation’s oldest magazine devoted to African-American life. It’s unclear whether the company’s other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.
According to media and investment executives familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony’s legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms. Time Inc., the world’s largest periodical publisher, already owns Essence, a monthly lifestyle, beauty, and fashion magazine for African-American women. Viacom, meanwhile, owns BET (Black Entertainment Television).
Nothing has yet resulted from any of Johnson Publishing’s overtures, however. And it’s unclear whether negotiations are underway between the publishing company and any of the identified parties or other potential rescuers.
RELATED: Vibe Magazine To Resume Publication
Time Inc. declined to comment, as did Viacom. “Your facts are incorrect with respect to Time Inc. and Viacom,” a spokeswoman for Johnson Publishing said. Johnson Publishing likely made its overtures through the media giants’ properties, NEWSWEEK’s sources indicate. They also declined to elaborate much beyond acknowledging, on condition of not being named, that they were aware of Johnson’s efforts. According to one top magazine executive, Johnson Publishing is requiring potential bidders to sign a confidentiality agreement to access the company’s financial information, a standard practice in the dealmaking world
Good riddance to another rag! GIT!
From Newsweek:
For 50 years, the Ebony Fashion Fair has been a glamorous social event in dozens of U.S. communities. The traveling fashion show has raised $55 million in college scholarships for African-American students. But this year the company behind the show, Johnson Publishing which publishes Ebony, pulled the plug on the event, citing lack of corporate sponsorship due to the recession. “This is devastating to us,” Ann Lee, publicity chairwoman for the Charmettes, a civic group that staged the event in Broward County, Fla., told The Miami Herald.
RELATED: Vibe Magazine Folds
It’s been a year of excruciating decisions for publishing companies—layoffs, pullbacks, closures. Now it appears Johnson Publishing’s chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, has reached what must have been an agonizing decision: Johnson Publishing is seeking a buyer or investor for its flagship publication, Ebony, in an effort aimed at securing the survival of the nation’s oldest magazine devoted to African-American life. It’s unclear whether the company’s other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.
According to media and investment executives familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony’s legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms. Time Inc., the world’s largest periodical publisher, already owns Essence, a monthly lifestyle, beauty, and fashion magazine for African-American women. Viacom, meanwhile, owns BET (Black Entertainment Television).
Nothing has yet resulted from any of Johnson Publishing’s overtures, however. And it’s unclear whether negotiations are underway between the publishing company and any of the identified parties or other potential rescuers.
RELATED: Vibe Magazine To Resume Publication
Time Inc. declined to comment, as did Viacom. “Your facts are incorrect with respect to Time Inc. and Viacom,” a spokeswoman for Johnson Publishing said. Johnson Publishing likely made its overtures through the media giants’ properties, NEWSWEEK’s sources indicate. They also declined to elaborate much beyond acknowledging, on condition of not being named, that they were aware of Johnson’s efforts. According to one top magazine executive, Johnson Publishing is requiring potential bidders to sign a confidentiality agreement to access the company’s financial information, a standard practice in the dealmaking world.
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